Susan Pevensie, second eldest of the four Pevensie children, entered the dimly lit home behind her mother. After spending the past few weeks in America with her parents, Susan was frightfully ready to sleep in her own bed once again.
With her suitcase in hand, Susan walked up the stairs to the second floor. The hall light, at the top of the stairs, was off, but Susan knew the hall well enough to know where her door was. Susan walked quietly through the hall, so not to wake her siblings. She made it halfway through the hall before she stopped.
Susan set her suitcase down outside the door and peeked into her brother's bedroom. Edmund and Lucy had returned just the previous day from their cousin's house and Peter had returned from school for a few weeks. As Susan peeked in on her brother's, she had immediately stifled her laughter at the sight.
Edmund had fallen asleep beside his bed with a book in his lap. His suitcase was on his bed, half emptied of Edmund's belongings. Peter, however, had fallen asleep at his desk again. His head lay in the middle of his open school book, still holding his pen in hand.
Susan entered the bedroom and walked to Edmund first. She pulled the pillow from his bed and gently laid Edmund's head on the floor. She pulled off the blanket and gently draped it over his body. Susan ruffled Edmund's hair. Edmund never stirred once.
But Peter was an easy light sleeper. Susan walked behind Peter and touched her brother's shoulder.
"Peter." She whispered.
With a sharp intake of breath, Peter's head rose and he woke. He blinked a few times looking at Susan. "Su?"
"Yes Peter, it's me." Susan replied.
"I didn't know you were home." Peter mumbled.
Susan smiled. "Yes and you need to go to bed. You fell asleep at your desk again."
Peter looked down at his desk. "So I have."
Susan laughed lightly. Back in Narnia, Peter could often be found at his desk in the early hours of morning. Working late into the night and early morning, and then falling asleep. Ever the hard worker, even in England.
"Come on let's get you to bed." Susan coaxed.
Peter nodded. He rose from his chair and with Susan's help, managed to reach his bed. Almost the instant his head touched down on his pillow, Peter was asleep. Susan smiled and drew up his blankets. She brushed several stray locks of hair from Peter's face, only to have them fall back into his face. Susan shook her head and turned back to his desk. She turned off the desk lamp and made her way out of the bedroom.
In her bedroom just down the hall, Susan found Lucy already tucked into her bed, fast asleep. Susan set her suitcase down beside her own bed; she would unpack in the morning. She dressed in her nightgown and climbed into her soft bed. She pulled the blankets up to her chest and buried herself into her bed.
"Susan?" Lucy whispered.
"Go back to sleep Lu." Susan replied.
"Oh Susan…I have…wonderful…wonderful news." Lucy said.
"In the morning." Susan said.
"We…we saw him. Edmund and I…we saw…Caspian…again." Lucy finished.
Susan was silent a soft sigh meant that Lucy had fallen back to sleep. Susan lay in her bed, thinking over what Lucy had just told her. She had hoped that the trip to America would make her forget all about him. Make her heart forget about him. But all her attempts to forget him failed. Every moment she spent in America seemed to remind her of him.
With a heavy sigh, Susan closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would come quickly. But any hope of sleep immediately taking her, had vanished with Lucy news. Now her mind would no doubt bring up every memory of him until she'd fall into a restless sleep.
Suddenly Susan felt something. A strange force she'd never felt before. It felt like magic, but nothing she'd ever felt. The magic felt strange, evil. Susan opened her eyes and tried to call out to Lucy, but she couldn't. Her mouth would not open, nor would her body move at all. Her entire body had fallen into the force of the dark magic.
The bedroom door opened quickly. A cloaked figure stood in her doorway, staring directly at Susan. They entered the bedroom, walking to Susan's bed. Susan tried to move, scream, anything to get away from the figure, but she remained still. Fear rose in her chest as the figure reached her bedside. The figure raised its arm over Susan's head, and then everything went black.